The present invention relates generally to the extrication of victims trapped in vehicles involved in accidents and pertains, more specifically, to cribbing apparatus used by rescuers to stabilize a post-accident vehicle against movement, in preparation for entry into the vehicle to remove an accident victim from the vehicle.
Each year numerous vehicles become involved in accidents on or alongside roadways, resulting in the necessity for swift action by rescue squads to extricate victims of such accidents from disabled and wrecked vehicles. Safe and effective removal of a victim from a vehicle subjected to an accident often requires that the post-accident vehicle be stabilized before entry by a rescuer so as to reduce, and advantageously eliminate, the possibility of the vehicle shifting during rescue operations, which shifting could further endanger a victim trapped in the vehicle, as well as the rescuer himself.
Cribbing apparatus is available to rescuers as a tool for stabilizing post-accident vehicles. Such cribbing apparatus usually is in the form of wooden supports which are forced into place beneath a vehicle to be stabilized, prior to entry into the vehicle. In order to effect a secure fit between the cribbing apparatus and the vehicle, and thereby establish the desired stabilization, it becomes necessary to fill any voids between the cribbing apparatus and the vehicle so as to avoid the possibility of movement of the vehicle in response to the rescue operation. In attempts to close such voids, rescuers often will jam pieces of cribbing into place; however, the force of jamming cribbing into an unwanted space can increase the risk of the vehicle shifting, with concomitant increased danger to the trapped victim in that any shift of the victim""s position can cause further injury.
The present invention avoids the necessity for the forced jamming of supplemental pieces of cribbing into place during a cribbing operation in order to fully stabilize a post-accident vehicle, and provides simple and effective cribbing apparatus for stabilizing such a vehicle for the rescue of a victim trapped in the vehicle. As such, the present invention attains several objects and advantages, some of which are summarized as follows: Provides simple and effective cribbing apparatus for rapid deployment to attain secure stabilization of a post-accident vehicle; enables positive contact with a post-accident vehicle for essentially complete stabilization without the necessity for uncontrolled jamming forces which could shift the vehicle and cause further deleterious consequences; allows stabilization of a post-accident vehicle with minimal obstruction for maximum access to a victim trapped within the vehicle; provides a compact, readily portable tool for use by rescue squads in stabilizing a post-accident vehicle; enables ease of removal of cribbing apparatus at the conclusion of a rescue operation; provides relatively inexpensive cribbing apparatus so as to be readily available to a greater number of rescuers for more widespread use; provides rugged cribbing apparatus capable of exemplary performance over a long service life.
The above objects and advantages, as well as further objects and advantages, are attained by the present invention which may be described briefly as cribbing apparatus for placement at selected locations at a site of an accident to stabilize a post-accident vehicle against unwanted shifting on ground located at the accident site during rescue of a victim trapped in the vehicle, the cribbing apparatus comprising: a first cribbing block having a forward end, a rearward end spaced longitudinally from the forward end, an upper surface, and a lower surface spaced altitudinally from the upper surface; a second cribbing block having a forward end, a rearward end spaced longitudinally from the forward end, an upper surface, and a lower surface spaced altitudinally from the upper surface; a hinge connecting the first and second cribbing blocks at the respective forward ends, with the lower surface of the first cribbing block confronting the upper surface of the second cribbing block, the hinge allowing selective pivotal movement of the cribbing blocks relative to one another about a lateral axis for selectively moving the respective rearward ends from a first position wherein the rearward ends are contiguous with one another, to a second position wherein the rearward ends are spaced altitudinally from one another; and a wedge for insertion between the lower surface of the first cribbing block and the upper surface of the second cribbing block, the wedge having an upper edge, a lower edge, a forward tip and a rearward end, and being moveable in longitudinal directions, the wedge further having a drive angle between the upper edge and the lower edge for effecting movement of the respective rearward ends of the cribbing blocks relative to one another between the first and second positions to fill a space between the vehicle and the ground at the selected location, thereby stabilizing the vehicle for a rescue operation at the accident site.